HARWICH – He may speak softly, but Monomoy Regional High School junior righty David Nichols was downright nasty Wednesday afternoon as he paced the Sharks to a 6-1 win over Millis in the MIAA Division 4 South Sectional preliminary round at Whitehouse Field.
Monomoy’s David Nichols struck out 17 batters en route ot his first career postseason win.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
Nichols struck out 17 batters but conceded he had never fanned that many batters in any game he’d ever pitched before. He struck out the side in each of the first four innings, added one more in the fifth and two each in the sixth and seventh frames before tiring with his 139th pitch and bases loaded in the final frame.
He scattered five hits, walked four batters and hit four and his one run allowed in the fourth was earned. Regardless, it was a spectacular display of focus and raw talent.
“Impressive,” Monomoy head coach Steve Wilson said. “That was really something. He never did that before and what was remarkable, I thought, was his poise. He didn’t let anything get to him out there.”
Deadlocked in a 0-0 tie heading into the bottom of the third inning, Nichols’ teammates erupted for four runs on six consecutive hits, all set in motion by leadoff man Drew Senatore who laid down an unplayable bunt for a basehit, advanced to second on a balk and then came roaring home on a Jimmy Hinesley double for a 1-0 lead. Hinseley’s RBI-two-bagger wast he first of four consecutive doubles hammered by the Sharks that inning. Noah Nickerson followed with one, then Brendan Hamilton ripped one down the line on two strikes and John Vagenas followed with another. Dalton Nickerson didn’t let the rally die down with a subsequent single and the hosts had themselves a 4-0 lead.
It was more than enough for Nichols to remain confident until a hit batsman to load the bases with two outs in the seventh prompted a mound visit from Coach Wilson for relief. Shortstop Noah Nickerson came in and struck out the final batter to end it.
“I felt energetic, high energy all game,” Nichols said. “I’ve never done that in my entire life (17 Ks). I felt comfortable with what I was throwing and my defense had my back.”
Sturgis East head coach John Havey with his seniors, Kevin Agostinelli, Paddo Devine, Ryan Havey, Cooper Gavin and Hunter Woodbury.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
Noah Nickerson not only closed the game out with a strikeout, but he went 4-4 with one RBI to lead the Sharks’ 17-hit slugfest. The top five hitters for the Sharks – Senatore (2-4), Hinesley (3-4, RBI), Noah Nickerson (4-4, RBI), Hamilton (3-4, 2 RBI and Vagenas (2-4, RBI) – combined for 14 of the team’s 17-hit total.
“The four straight doubles in the third were big,” Coach Wilson said.
This is the third straight year 13th-seeded Monomoy has reached the postseason. The Sharks now stand at 12-7 and will face 4th-seeded Holbrook (14-5) Friday at 4:00 pm at Holbrook High.
Cohasset Gives Sturgis East an Early Postseason Exit
The host Cohasset High School Skippers (12-7) eliminated the Sturgis East Storm (10-11) from postseason contention Wednesday afternoon, 7-0, in the preliminary round of the MIAA Division 4 South Sectionals.
Senior Brett Dooley blanked the Storm with a complete-game, five-hitter, as he struck out six batters and stranded nine baserunners to help 14th-seeded Cohasset advance to the Div. 4 South Sectional first round on Friday. The Skippers will #3 seed Old Colony Voke tomorrow at 4:00 pm.
Joe Colesano, Jared Joy and Kevin Agostinelli each had one hit for the Storm, while Matt Agostinelli went 2-3. Kyle Coolidge took the loss on the mound for Sturgis East.
“We played pretty well, actually,” said Storm first-year head coach John Havey. “We had one bad inning with several infield hits and a few misplays… we had men on and couldn;t get the big hit, that’s baseball.”
Sturgis West fell to Archbishop Williams, 11-3, yesterday in Braintree.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
Archbishop Williams Eliminates Sturgis West in Navigators’ First-Ever Postseason Bid
The 15th-seeded Sturgis West Navigators (9-8) made their first-ever foré into the MIAA South Sectionals Wednesday afternoon at 18th seed Archbishop Williams (10-9), but the hosts staged an early comeback to oust West, 11-3, in the preliminary round.
Sturgis West enjoyed a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the third inning when Archies staged a three-run rally for a 4-3 lead and never looked back.
JP LaBarge and Nick Pepe led off the second inning with walks, followed by singles from Kris Quinn and Jonathan Avis, but the 3-1 lead enjoyed by the Navigators faded soon thereafter.
Avis finished 2-4 on the day.
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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